Bondidude

I came into the game of Fluxx through Zombie Fluxx. While quite a bit of fun it was a little adversarial for me.

Pirate Fluxx is goofy and just all around fun. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, allows you, check that, ENCOURAGES you to talk like a pirate and even if you have one pass around a pirate hat.

Of course if you don’t like pirates then this version of Fluxx may not be for you. 🙂

Mechanically speaking the game is solid. It’s quite popular at my FLGS and I have to say I would have probably started playing it if I had love for the books/show that it’s based around.

However the problem I had with the game was I didn’t know who anyone was on the cards and I had no attachment to the family I was playing. This certainly seemed to help the enjoyment of other people at the table and I think it would have made it a more enjoyable experience for me if I had come into the game with knowledge of the flavor.

I have to say give it a try if you like CCG/LCGs and are a fan of Game of Thrones. The game is quite mechanically sound and actually quite a bit of fun with a wealth of strategy. However if you’re not a fan of the books/show you may want to pass or play it with a friend before buying in.

I played this game for about a year straight at least once a week. This was mostly out of the base game set at that as I didn’t start picking up expansions until much later.

I found the game was easy to play and remarkably addictive. The game consists of a few basic rules and then reading the cards and doing what they say for the rest of it. Also that you can set up the pool of possible cards that is easy to play with and have more synergy together or to make the game more difficult you can play with cards that maybe have deeper combos or that are more difficult to pull off.

The two complaints I hear about this game is that it’s “multiplayer solitaire” or “lacks theme”. While the latter I can get behind is quite true, the game is not dripping with theme, the game is how you build it. If you want more interactive cards you can play with those, if you do not then you don’t have to play with them. That, to me, is the beauty of this particular game it’s up to you and is whatever you want it to be.

Even with the perspective of additional deck builders out there such as Thunderstone, which is a more heavily themed deck building game, this is always the one I go for when introducing people to deck builders and even some concepts of more Euro games.

Note: I have only played the base game and none of the expansions.

Thunderstone is a great game right out of the box for people who have played a lot of deck building games like Dominion but are looking for something with a little more theme or depth to it. For newer players it’s not impossible to learn all the ins and outs of the game but it can take a bit of learning and time to get them down right.

Right out of the box Thunderstone is dripping with theme which will either turn people on or off to the game immediately. The game is based around going into dungeons and killing monsters and gaining stronger equipment, spells and items to be able to fend off these monsters. The monsters are determined randomly by shuffling together the dungeon deck and building up your supplies by visiting the village. You can also trash cards from your deck so as to thin out what you don’t want to be cycling and drawing repeatedly.

While my experiences with this game tend to lead me to think of it as a pretty well balanced game there are times when the monsters and the available cards just don’t mix or it would be significantly easier to face certain monsters with certain heroes. There is of course always the option of attacking and failing and the monster runs away, but it really feels like a wasted turn when you do that.

As for the light mechanic, which is by far the most confusing part of the game for most players, this is one place where I think they could have done better. To attack a monster successfully you have to have both a number of Attack resources and Light to be able to delve into the dungeon and find it. If you do not have the light, then you suffer a negative penalty for each level that you are trying to attempt but don’t have sufficient light to penetrate. Trying to balance all of these resources can be difficult for new players and even experienced players. Balancing all the three resources in both your deck and during a turn can be difficult.

Other than these rather minor complains Thunderstone is a great game for experienced deck building fans who enjoy dungeon crawls and fantasy based games.

First off I just want to say this game blew me away with it’s components. It’s practically worth the price tag alone for the dungeon tiles and minis that come with the game. Many times I’ve said that I would consider buying the game if I ran more D&D and fantasy role playing games.

The game itself is a very stripped down 4th edition mechanics. It’s so stripped down that it comes across as being very boring for experienced role players such as myself, and particularly if you have played a lot of 4th edition.

There’s not a whole lot of replay value to the game after you have completed all the different quests that are included. This of course leads itself to expansion, but the few scenarios that come with the game will only last you a few sessions before you have to start repeating them.

With that said, the game is also particularly hard and can be VICIOUS if the dice are against you.

Overall the game is great for a few sit downs and if you can use the components afterward. Otherwise I would pass on it and find a friend who has a copy of Descent or just break out the D&D books and run a dungeon crawl.

I’ll start off by saying I’m not the biggest Catan fan in the world. Which isn’t to say that I hate the game but it’s always been very “Meh” on my list of games.

My problem with this expansion is that it always seems to add some unnecessary length to the game. It adds a whole new level of everyone being able to build after everyone else’s turn, which slows down the game significantly, and breaks some of the tension of getting the resources on someone else’s turn and then holding onto them until your turn in the hopes you don’t see the robber show his face.

Honestly, there are just better games to play when you have 5 or 6 people.

Carcassone is a game that I always recommend to couples at the game store that I work. It’s a game that scales well despite the number of players that it has and plays just as well with 2 as it does with 4. This is something that’s pretty rare in games and is why I recommend it so heartily.

It also certainly does not hurt that this is a very simplistic and all around great game. Deep strategy it is not, but it’s a great way to introduce people to the concept of gaining points and thinking toward an end game goal if they are new to this concept.

It is a rather simple game that can be played with friends over a few drinks while not being a total “beer and pretzel” kind of game either. You do have strategic decisions to make through out the game but making the wrong move early does not necessarily devastate you for the entire game either.

It’s also not a very intense game. There’s not a lot of room to back stabbing or hurt feelings, which makes the game all the better for families and couples.

Overall this is a great game that can be enjoyed by multiple ages and multiple levels of interest in board games. It’s not for everyone, but it’s a game that will certainly suit a lot of people’s tastes.

Eminent Domain is quickly becoming one of my all time favorite games. It’s elegant, easy to learn and easy to play (at least I think so) but with a wealth of strategy and tactical ideas behind it.

I really did like how it’s both a role selection game and a deck builder with mechanics like the Nightfall chaining mechanic where you can play cards on other people’s turn but also like getting card advantage from not doing it.

I also like how it really feels like set up and tear down don’t take as long as other deck builders. That’s really my only beef with deck building games is that it takes almost as long to get everything out and set up as it does to play some of them, especially if you only play one game with them.